Stanley Cup Champions
by BigD1987
Summary: The Stanley Cup is the hardest trophy to win in sports. And Kyo and Tohru are going to find out just what it means to a city as the Chicago Blackhawks play for the Cup. One-shot, set in same universe as "Jimmy & Kyo", AKA 'Michaelsverse'.


"HOLY SHIT!" Jimmy Michaels, UCF quarterback put his hands on his head as he watched what had unfolded; the Philadelphia Flyers had just tied his beloved Chicago Blackhawks at 3 with less than 5 minutes to go in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

"Jimmy, watch the language!" His mother said, slapping him in the back of his head.

"What just happened?" Tohru Honda asked.

"The Flyers have tied the game obviously," Kyo Sohma replied, also stunned like Jimmy. The setting was Northfield, Illinois in the Michaels family home. Jimmy and his mother Bridget, a woman with brown hair like his was sitting on the couch, perched in front of the HDTV watching _NHL on NBC_. Jimmy's dad Bob was in Philly to cover the game for the _Chicago Tribune. _Jimmy's girlfriend Karen McKenzie and friends Kyo Sohma and Tohru Honda, who were spending the summer with him, were also there. Jimmy ran his hands through his medium-length brown hair, watching what had just unfolded. The Blackhawks had a 3-2 lead in the 3rd period of their NHL hockey game when Scott Hartnell of the Philadelphia Flyers scored a goal that sent the Philadelphia crowd insane with 3:59 left in regulation.

"That's the way the puck flies," Bob Michaels said.

"Sheez," Jimmy said, putting his Blackhawks hat back on. He wore his red Patrick Kane Blackhawks jersey as well. Karen just wore a Blackhawks t-shirt. Kyo and Tohru just wore their regular gear. They didn't really follow hockey, but this was different. Jimmy had gotten them into it.

Previously, the Hawks had taken the lead on a Dustin Byfuglien goal in the first period before the Flyers tied it up on a Scott Hartnell goal (sounds familiar) with seconds to go in the first period. The Hawks went back on the attack in the second period, but the Flyers went ahead 2-1 8 minutes into the second period on a Danny Briere goal, but Patrick Sharp tied it just minutes later. Then, Blackhawks defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson put the Blackhawks ahead 3-2, sending the Michaels family into a frenzy. But then Scott Hartnell scored his goal, which got into this situation.

Now, on to the regular narration; the referee dropped the puck on the ice and play began again. Instantly, the group was fixated on the action. The Hawks went back on the attack, threatening to score and put them back up. They sat on the edge of their seats, watching Dave Bolland try to score on Michael Leighton, but get denied. Kyo nervously clenched his fists, hoping that the Finnish goalie would have it in him to make the big stop. All this time with Jimmy and he was already a hockey fan; he was a wide receiver for cryin' out loud!

The tension in the room was thick, like you could literally cut it with a knife. All five of them were fixated on the screen, watching the two hockey teams battle it out. Tohru, being the girl she was, could barely stand what was going on. She could barely stand football, much less this! The Hawks tried their best to stop the Philadelphia attack and get into attack mode themselves, getting some good chances, mainly with an Andrew Ladd shot. But the Flyers were so determined to send it to Game 7 that it was nearly impossible. But then, just when things seemed bleak, Antti Niemi made a diving save with just about 1:30 left in regulation. There was a huge sigh of relief coming from the group on the couch.

"NIEMI!" Jimmy shouted.

"He just flattened himself!" Kyo said, watching in amazement. "Come on, Hawks!" The group watched the puck go into the Flyers zone for another icing call on the Blackhawks.

"I wish we could stop icing," Jimmy said.

"Unfortunately, it seems to be the only thing they can do," Bridget replied. Jimmy sighed in exasperation. Of course, at the time, they had no idea that it was most likely the most pivotal save of the game.

Eventually the Hawks were able to run down the clock and the third period ended, bringing the two teams to overtime. A sigh escaped the lungs of each person. Bridget's was a sigh of relief, Jimmy's was a sigh of exasperation, Karen's a sigh of astonishment, Kyo's a sigh of exasperation, and Tohru's a sigh or relief. "I'm not sure if I can handle this sport," Tohru said.

"Hockey's not for the faint of heart," Jimmy said. "Considering some of our games this parts year, this is probably worse." Tohru got up from her seat anyway, and went into the kitchen to get some water.

"I think I'll go too," Kyo said as he got up.

"Same here," Jimmy replied, walking into the kitchen. They went in to see Tohru pouring some water from a pitcher of purified water. Jimmy went over to the refrigerator to grab some orange juice, as did Kyo. "This is driving me crazy," Jimmy said after taking a swig. "I'd love it if they could win it at home, but they shouldn't choke like this."

"You shouldn't be so hard on them," Tohru said. "They're doing their best."

"This franchise hasn't won shit since 1961," Jimmy said in response. "My folks were barely even alive when that happened."

"But your grandpa was," Tohru said. "Just hang in there, they could win."

"And this is from a girl who can barely stand a baseball game," Jimmy muttered into Kyo's ear. This of course, earned a look from Kyo.

"Please don't say something like that about Tohru," Kyo replied.

"Whatever," Jimmy said. "We'd better get back into the TV room, OT will probably start soon."

"Okay," Kyo said as he followed Jimmy. The two went back in the TV room and sat down on the couch. Bridget sat on an easy chair nest to the couch. Tohru soon rejoined them.

"Do you think Scott's watching this?" She asked, referring to Jimmy's older, soccer-playing brother Scott.

"I'm not sure," Jimmy said. "I don't know if they can get the game in South Africa."

"Oh," Tohru replied.

"Plus, he's probably trying to get some sleep, since he's got that game against Eng-a-land," Jimmy said. "Anyway, let's go Hawks!"

Overtime began as the referee dropped the puck and the face-off was won by Jonathan Toews, but within 20 seconds the Flyers had a shot on goal by Claude Giroux. But Antti Niemi made the save, earning a sigh of relief from the quintet, mostly because Niemi held the puck, stopping play. "I'm not sure why they have to stop play for that," Tohru said. "Can't they keep playing?"

"It's an effective way to stop a surge," Jimmy replied. "Besides, there are NHL rules about it."

"Okay," Tohru said, her voice trailing off slightly. She still didn't get it.

"Anyway, let's see what they can do," Jimmy said. Play began again, as Darroll Powe won the face-off against John Madden. The Flyers went on the attack and Simon Gagne fired a shot from 40 feet that was wide of the net, earning another groan. Things settled down for a while as the Blackhawks fought off the Philadelphia attack. But the Flyhers again got a chance when they went into the Blackhawks' zone when Danny Briere fired a shot on Niemi, but was deflected wide of the net.

"Oh, dear," Bridget said, breathing a sigh of relief. The Hawks brought back into the Philadelphia zone, and were forced back into the Philadelphia zone, and an attempt by Hartnell was shoved wide of the net. Soon, the play was stopped and the Blackhawks won the face-off.

With close to 16 minutes to go, the Hawks took the puck into their zone, but lost the puck when Marian Hossa failed to get a pass off to Jonathan Toews. After some fighting in the Blackhawks zone, hey sent it back into the Flyers zone and made a line change before going back into their zone. Then the Hawks brought it back into their zone.

The group was watching on the edge of their seats, waiting for any attempt by the Hawks. Kyo's heart was beating like a double bass drum, and it looked as though Tohru was going to have a heart attack. Brian Campbell got the puck to Patrick Kane, who did a quick one-two-three juke with his stick drove towards the net from the right of Leighton.

"Come on, Kaner, come on!" Jimmy said, standing up and watching Kane drive towards the net. His breath was ragged, and he watch as Kane shot the puck on goal from a sharp angle. Jimmy watched as the commentator said that puck went wide.

"Oh, no!" Bridget said. "It looked so close!"

"What just—" Tohru was just about to say something, but Jimmy saw differently and he cut her off.

"IT'S IN! IT'S IN!" He shouted, pointing at the screen. "KANER! KANER!" The others looked confused, as Jimmy was jumping up and down. Sure enough, Patrick Kane was skating towards the other side of the rink, eventually running into Niemi's arms. Jimmy was going nuts. "WE WON THE STANLEY CUP! WE WON THE STANLEY CUP!"

"Jimmy, what—OH MY GOD! HE DID IT!" Karen had seen the replay, and sure enough, the puck had gone through Leighton's legs and into the net but had been hidden. Instantly, the group, save for Tohru, who was still confused, got up to celebrate. Jimmy hugged his mom, and was joined by Karen.

"Champions!" Karen said.

Kyo, too, had gotten up and was celebrating, giving Jimmy a high-five before hugging a _very _confused Tohru. Jimmy was still going nuts, hugging and kissing Karen. Again, Tohru had no idea that the puck went in the net, but she was indeed smiling at Jimmy's Bridget's and Karen's pure, unadulterated joy at watching the Blackhawks win. Now it hit her that the puck had indeed gone in, as the commentators announced that the puck went in.

"Wow, great job!" Tohru said. "You guys just won the Stanley Trohpy!"

"It's _Cup,_" Jimmy replied. "It's called the Stanley Cup. AND WE JUST WON IT!" Jimmy was beside himself with joy. To say he was happy was an understatement. "Man, I wish I could win that," he said.

"Yeah, but we already [**CENSORED FOR SPOILERS TO JIMMY & KYO] **so you this shouldn't be as big for you," Kyo said.

"That's the hardest trophy to win in team sports," Jimmy replied. As he spoke, the trophy presentation began as NHL commissioner Gary Bettmann handed the trophy Conn-Smythe Trophy—shaped like old Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto—to Jonathan Toews, signifying him as the playoff MVP.

"He's young," Tohru said. "How old is he?"

"He's 22," Jimmy said nonchalantly. Apparently Tohru was shocked at this.

"TWENTY-TWO!" She shouted. "H-h-h-he's barely older than us!"

"He's only 2 years older than me," Jimmy replied. "Anyway, here it comes!" His grin was stretching from ear-to-ear as the Stanley Cup handlers brought the massive trophy onto the ice. Tohru was also amazed at this.

"_That's_ the Stanley Cup!" She shouted. "But it's so big!" And it looks so heavy!"

"Yeah, but for those guys on the ice right now, it's gonna feel so light," Jimmy replied. They watched Bettman present the trophy to Toews, the captain, and then, the moment Jimmy had been waiting for when Toews lifted the trophy over his head in triumph, right hand on the top, the actual cup part, and the left hand on the base. Jimmy, Bridget and Karen raised their hands in their air and cheered at the triumph of their hockey team. Kyo, too, was celebrating for these Blackhawks.

Bridget, meanwhile, dialed her husband in Philly while Jimmy called Scott. Kyo, meanwhile, called Yuki who was staying with his cousin Makoto in Orlando. "Hey, rat-boy," Kyo said. "Were you watching the hockey game?"

"I don't care about that sport," Yuki replied. "Now go away." _Click!_ Yuki had hung up on Kyo, much to the orange-haired wide receiver's annoyance. Kyo took the phone off his ear and watched Toews hand the trophy off the Marian Hossa, who had been in three straight Stanley Cup Finals with two different teams (the Penguins and Red Wings) and lost both times. Kyo understood how much this meant to him. And now it hit him how much this meant to Chicago. With Jimmy and Bridget celebrating with their family, Bob in Philly and Scott in South Africa while singing the chorus to 'Chelsea Dagger', he felt happy for them. They were pretty much a microcosm of what was going on in Chicago. And he couldn't feel happier.

[][][]

Yeah, I had to get this out because the HAWKS ARE STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS! I'm not sure if the ending it great, but I'll take it. The whole city of Chicago is in such a delirium right now, it almost feels like a dream. I started this thing minutes after the Hawks won the cup and I wanted to write this out.

So anyway, Chicago Blackhawks, 2010 Stanley Cup Champions; MAN, does that sound good!


End file.
